Major outsourcing prediction from Cringely.

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The IBM project I am writing about is called LEAN and the first manifestation of LEAN was this week's 1,300 layoffs at Global Services, which generated almost no press. Thirteen hundred layoffs from a company with more than 350,000 workers is nothing, so the yawning press reaction is not unexpected. But this week's "job action," as they refer to it inside IBM management, was as much as anything a rehearsal for what I understand are another 100,000+ layoffs to follow, each dribbled out until some reporter (that would be me) notices the growing trend, then dumped en masse when the jig is up, but no later than the end of this year.
...
All this is supposed to happen by the end of 2007, by the way, at which point IBM will also freeze its U.S. pension plan.
...
But in the end they don't care, which shows that only the reaction of Wall Street matters anymore.

Lean and Mean: 150,000 U.S. layoffs for IBM?

] Researchers developing new open-source software for
] Internet Protocol routers are hoping that they can do for
] routing what Linux did for operating systems.

Cool!

Researchers envision the Linux of routing - News - ZDNet

] Since the system went into place last September at the
] new elementary school here in Cambodia's remote northeast
] corner, solar panels have been powering three computers.
] Once a day, an Internet "Motoman" rides a cherry red
] Honda motorcycle slowly past the school. On the passenger
] seat is a gray metal box with a short fat antenna. The
] box holds a wireless Wi-Fi chip set that allows the
] exchange of e-mail between the box and computers.
] Briefly, this schoolyard of tree stumps and a
] hand-cranked water well becomes an Internet hot spot.
]
] It is a digital pony express: five Motomen ride their
] routes five days a week, downloading and uploading
] e-mail. The system, developed by a Boston company, First
] Mile Solutions, uses a receiver box powered by the
] motorcycle's battery. The driver need only roll slowly
] past the school to download all the village's outgoing
] e-mail and deliver incoming e-mail. The school's computer
] system and antenna are powered by solar panels. Newly
] collected data is stored for the day in a computer
] strapped to the back of the motorcycle. At dusk, the
] motorcycles converge on the provincial capital, Ban Lung,
] where an advanced school is equipped with a satellite
] dish, allowing a bulk e-mail exchange with the outside
] world.

Rural Cambodia, Though Far Off the Grid, Is Finding Its Way Online

] Market research firm IDC recently estimated that by 2007,
] 23 percent of all IT services jobs will be offshore, up
] from 5 percent in 2003. The figures refer to IT work done
] for U.S.-based companies.

Good Q&A article from CEO whose company provides outsourcing services in India.

On the outsourcing hot seat - News - ZDNet

] Digital Decay BBS is dedicated to the lost art of BBSing.
] At one time there were over 50,000 BBSes in the US alone.
] Now we number in the hundreds. My name is
]
] Chris Edwards the SySop of Digital Decay. Now days almost
] all BBSes are telnetable and no longer posses dial-up
] access. So you can go back in the day without having to
] run up your phone bill.

Digital Decay BBS - Chris Edwards the SySop of Digital Decay

"From the reader perspective, this changes news reading habits because (usually) you pick a source and pick the story that interests you," said Mayer, who developed the tool with five staff engineers over the last nine months. "With this service, you pick the story that interests you and then pick the news source.""

Google search gets newsier - Tech News - CNET.com

Hubzilla is stomping through town and he means business. With piercing red eyes and an open mouth that lights up when plugged in to the Firewire bus, Hubzilla is as menacing as he is useful. When he's not destroying your desk* he's helping you with your Firewire connectivity problems.

--Check out the picture

Disclaimers:
*Charismac claims no responsibility for broken personal or business related property should Hubzilla go on a rampage. As always, a clean and fed Hubzilla results in a happy Hubzilla.

**Please keep small children away from Hubzilla, just in case

CharisMac - Hubzilla

Then I saw the light --

Sun Micro's secret dot-comeback plan